How to Incorporate in Georgia

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Incorporating in Georgia is relatively easy.  This article should give you resources to understand how the incorporation process works in Georgia, and to use the legal forms from the Georgia Secretary of State to incorporate in Georgia.


While not required, it is advised that you reserve your company name prior to filing any paperwork. To do this, you can visit the Georgie Secretary of State Web site (http://www.sos.georgia.gov/corporations/name_reserve.htm) to begin your online reservation of your name. The nonrefundable filing fee is $25.00, which can be paid using a credit card. The name can be reserved for 30 days, within those 30 days you may go online and incorporate using that same name. If the requested name is not available, a rejection notice will be sent, and will include instructions on submitting another request with no additional charge. 


Georgia offers two ways to file your articles of incorporation - online or via mail.


Georgia law requires that the Articles of Incorporation include the name of the corporation, the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue, the street address and county of the corporation's registered office, the name of the registered agent at that office, the name and address of each incorporator and the mailing address of the initial principal office of the corporation. These minimum requirements are outlined according to O.C.G.A. 14-2-202 (a helpful outline on how Articles of Incorporation should look is found here: http://sos.georgia.gov/corporations/filing_procedures_corp_2001.pdf). To file via mail, the original and one copy of the articles of incorporation and completed Transmittal Form 227 (http://sos.georgia.gov/acrobat/Corporations/form227.pdf) and a $100.00 filing fee payable to Secretary of State must be mailed to: Office of the Secretary of State, Corporations Division, 315 West Tower, #2 Martin Luthor King, Jr. Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1530. The Articles of Incorporation are effective on the date received by the Corporations Division. A certificate of incorporation will be mailed within five to seven business days. 


To file your corporation online, visit http://www.sos.ga.gov/Corporations/new_entity_notice.htm and follow the easy step-by-step process that is outlines by the Secretary of State. All fees can be paid by a valid major credit card. 


In addition to filing your Articles of Incorporation, all corporations must publish a notice of intent to incorporate in the newspaper. A list of legal organs is published at http://www.gsccca.org/clerks, or the Clerk of the Superior Court can provide you with the proper legal organ in your county. The publication fee is $40 and should be forwarded directly to the newspaper no later than the next business day after filing your Articles of Incorporation.


Georgia requires within 90 days of incorporation, you must file an initial annual registration form that lists three principal officers with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $30 and can be filed online (http://www.georgiacorporations.org).

 

There are many companies that offer the service of filing these articles on your behalf, such as FileOnline  or LegalZoom.